• Printable: Cox Classic Event Guide
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Jason Gore is back at the Cox Classic, five years after he thought he had the Nationwide Tour in his rear-view mirror.
During that glorious weekend in 2005 at Champions Run, Gore:
• Shot 59 in the second round.
• Came from four shots back in the final round and won a playoff.
• Earned his automatic promotion to the PGA Tour with his third victory of the season.
A month later, he won on the PGA Tour and the popular pro seemed to be on his way to a long, uninterrupted run on that tour.
Gore had a million-dollar season in 2007, the third straight year he was comfortably inside the top 125 who stay on the PGA Tour the following year.
His status worsened after he slipped to 134th in 2008. When he got into only 24 events last year, he fell to 155th and the middle of the pack at the tour's qualifying tournament.
That's no-man's land in the highest levels of pro golf. Some in his position try to collect as many sponsor exemptions and play in tournaments opposite majors and World Golf Championship events on the PGA Tour. Others head to the Nationwide Tour.
Then there are those, such as Gore, who split time between the two tours.
This year, he has been no better than a tie for 47th (U.S. Open) on the PGA Tour or a tie for 42nd on the Nationwide Tour, where he's playing for the fourth straight week and has made the cut the past three weeks.
“This is just a bump in the road,'' Gore said. “I'm not thinking I'm a failure.''
Putting has been part of his woes. He's outside the top 100 in putting average and putts per round, a reason he spent a long time Tuesday afternoon on one of Champions Run's putting greens working on his stroke.
Instead of playing in Omaha this week, he said, he could have been at the PGA Tour's new Greenbrier Classic on a sponsor's exemption.
But he turned it down.
The Nationwide Tour, he said, “is where I'm going to get the most starts the rest of the year. The goal is to get my PGA card back, and this way is my best opportunity.
“I've always been streaky. Things are starting to work, and I'll get my confidence back.''
Omaha provides a rare familiar place for him.
“There's some new tournaments and courses I haven't played,'' he said. “It's like I'm a rookie again.
“It's nice coming here, and it hasn't seemed like it's been five years. I'm looking forward to a week where I look and know where a hole goes.''
Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com
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